Sales tax extension to fund new Barrow criminal justice center

Posted: Tuesday, April 26, 2005

By Todd DeFeotodd.defeo@onlineathens.com

WINDER - With voters' approval, Barrow County officials will earmark almost $24 million from a proposed six-year extension of a special-purpose, local-option sales tax for a new criminal justice center, which will house both a jail and a courthouse.

ADVERTISEMENT

Print-ready version

Send to a friend

Subscribe to the Banner-Herald

E-mail the Editor

Discuss in Forums

If approved June 21, the 1 percent SPLOST is expected to raise almost $69.4 million over six years. The center - to be built on a 155-acre tract of land near Winder - would be the single-largest project funded through the sales tax, which would start June 1, 2006.

"The SPLOST program is extremely important for local governments," said Keith Lee, chief of operations for Barrow County. "It's the mechanism for funding capital improvements.

"As a county like we are, growing as fast as we are, you need those capital improvements," Lee said. "Without those capital improvements, you're going to be servicing people in poor conditions."

Sales tax plan

Barrow County voters will decide on June 21 whether to continue a 1 percent special-purpose, local-option sales tax for six years. Here's how officials plan to use the tax revenue:

 Criminal Justice Facility $23.9 million

 Roads $15 million

 Recreation/downtown revitalization/streetscapes $6 million

 Bear Creek debt service $5 million

 West Winder bypass $4 million

 Sewer $3 million

 Civic center $3 million

 Courthouse renovation $2.1 million

 Water $2 million

 Animal control $1.5 million

 Fire stations $1.2 million

 911 $1.2 million

 Health department $1 million

 Airport $500,000

For years, county officials have said they needed a new jail to replace the existing one adjacent to the circa-1920 courthouse in downtown Winder. In June 2003, commissioners agreed to buy 155 acres of land between Pearl Pentecost Road and Georgia Highway 211, a major step toward building the new facility.

The land lies outside of Winder, but if county officials decide to move court functions there, the property must to be annexed into Winder's city limits.

The new criminal justice center would have state-of-the-art security, something that is lacking in the current courthouse in downtown Winder, Lee said.

"You're always concerned about the safety of the citizens of the county when the citizens of the county walk down the exact same hallway that the criminals of the county walk down," Lee said of the existing jail facility. "That's a huge safety factor."

If a new criminal justice facility is built, county officials plan to relocate some county offices and Lanier Technical College to the existing courthouse and its 1989 addition. Just under $2.1 million is earmarked to renovate the old courthouse.

In March, Jackson County voters approved a six-year extension to their SPLOST, a collection that will start July 1.

As in Barrow County, Jackson County officials earmarked a large portion for a new jail. Jackson County opened a new - and controversial - court complex in August on the outskirts of Jefferson.